[Ads-l] locked and loaded, loaded and locked

[Jonathan Lighter]

"Lock and load!" was allegedly popularized among civilians by John Wayne in
_Sands of Iwo Jima_, though it took some decades to become lamestream.

Bonus Factoid: Stephen Colbert's would-be bestseller of 2007, _I Am America
(And So Can You!)_, ID's the two greatest threats facing America as the
Mexican border and the news media. Colbert recommends building a 2000-mile
wall on the border to protect us from bad stuff.

Page citations on request.

JL

JL

On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 9:12 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> I see there's some relevant discussion on the Way With Words forum...
>
> https://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/topics/load-and-
> lock-vs-lock-and-load/
>
> From one commenter: "Lock and load is precisely the sequencing used for
> loading a flintlock. The flintlock is first placed at the half-cock (i.e.,
> at the locked) position, and is then loaded."
>
> Source:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AFlintlock#Origin_of_.
> 22Lock_and_Load.22
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 9:09 AM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Yes. But HDAS has a quote from a (1982) military dictionary explaining
> > that this refers to a firing-range command to lock the safety levers of
> > weapons in the "safe" position before loading ammo. I leave it to those
> > with more knowledge of weaponry to evaluate this suggestion....
> >
> > On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 09:06:53AM -0400, Ben Zimmer wrote:
> > > On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 9:05 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Trump said on Twitter this morning that "military solutions are now
> > fully
> > > > in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely."
> > > >
> > > > OED3 dates "lock and load" to 1940:
> > > >
> > > > 1940   N.Y. Times 19 Nov. 12/3   Lieut. Col. Joseph T. Hart, range
> > > > officer, boomed through his microphone, ‘Lock and Load’.
> > > >
> > > > But there are numerous earlier cites for "load(ed) and lock(ed)" in
> the
> > > > context of firearms, like this from 1898:
> > > >
> > > > ---
> > > > Detroit Free Press, Dec. 18, 1898, p. 10, col. 5
> > > > It was in its water proof covering and as he removed the covering,
> the
> > > > rifle, which was loaded and locked, was discharged. ... Collins had
> let
> > > > another soldier have his rifle to do guard duty, and latter had
> > carelessly
> > > > left it loaded and locked.
> > > > ---
> > > >
> > > > Doesn't "load and lock" make more sense, since one locks the bolt
> > before
> > > > loading the ammunition? I wonder if it changed to "lock and load"
> > because
> > > > of the phonological constraints on "freezes," as Bill Cooper and Haj
> > Ross
> > > > called such "A + B" orderings in their classic 1975 paper:
> > > >
> > > > http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/haj/worldorder.pdf
> > > >
> > >
> > > Sorry, got it backwards! Meant to say:
> > >
> > > Doesn't "load and lock" make more sense, since one loads the ammunition
> > > before locking the bolt?
> > >
> > >
> >
>
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>



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